10 Ways to Increase your Perseverance

Perseverance refers to a person's steadfastness or persistence in doing something despite obstacles that make success more difficult to achieve.

Perseverance is a virtue that requires great physical, mental and emotional energy. You need to be strong to exude it. In this world where everything is almost always a test, you need a high level of perseverance in order to beat the odds.

Here are 10 ways to increase your perseverance:

1. Be independent. Take responsibility for yourself.

Life involves a certain degree of risk taking and you have to take them to realize your dreams. Don't be overly concerned about other people's opinions as these might cause you to lose your drive to persevere. Be in the company of people who support your goals and are happy with your achievements.

2. Seek positive re-enforcement.

You have to select positive re-enforcement by choice. When you read books, watch movies and other media, choose the ones with uplifting themes. As much as possible, don't allow negative messaging to bring you down.

3. Live Healthy.

Take good care of yourself and live a healthy life. Energy and stamina are important components for perseverance. They play an important role in giving you focus, resilience, optimism and self-confidence to attain your goals.

4. Seek the real truth, not what others think is true.

To make effective decisions, you must base it on reality and take responsibility for it. You cannot base your decisions on what other people think. Decision making is not a popularity contest and it should be grounded on reality and truth. You can nourish your will to persevere by seeking the truth.

5. Seek advice from reliable sources.

One of the best formulas for success is to seek the advice of people who are successful in the field that you want to join in. This is one of the best ways to shorten the gap between perseverance and achievement. Their mistakes will help you to avoid repeating them yourself and the methods they used to succeed are important tools that you can use to attain the success you seek.

If you want to climb Mount Everest, your best source of advice should come from someone who has done it.

6. Identify counterproductive habits or thoughts you would like to stop.

Hanging on to habits or thoughts that no longer serve you can make you unproductive and make you lose your ability to persevere. These habits include dwelling in the past, looking at your self as a victim or worrying unnecessarily about things that aren't sure to happen.

You should dump these habits and allow yourself to move on, focus on what you can do and don't be too concerned about moving ahead of your contemporaries. Live the life you want to live and earn what you deserve.

7. Learn to forgive yourself and others.

By forgiving yourself for your mistakes and un-doings, you are actually giving yourself peace of mind. Bearing grudges, disappointments and hatred can kill your spirit of perseverance. It wouldn't matter who the object of your negative emotion is. If it's you or another person, you are still the one who is feeling the pain. You should learn to forgive in order to move on.

8. Take reasonable risks.

Taking reasonable risk can help to improve your perseverance. When you take risks, you are also expecting to get a reward. Avoiding them undermines your will to persist in the face of obstacles.

9. Be around people who are supportive of your aspirations.

When you choose to be surrounded by people who are happy to support your cause and glad to celebrate your achievements, you are raising your will to persevere. The knowledge that there are people behind you in whatever endeavor makes you strong and willing to take chances.

10. Don't quit.

Never stop trying to do what you are passionate about, do it everyday. Master it without being too concerned about what others think or say. The world owes the power of electricity to Thomas Edison, the man who persevered and persisted despite trying and failing for a thousand times. He's a man who stood for what he believed in.

Perseverance is the insurance policy and common denominator for success. So powerful is perseverance that failure cannot exist in its presence.

Let perseverance keep your goals alive and your dreams real. Make it a part of your life.